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After suffering through
three tepid quarters of basketball, the Reedley Pirates posted 25
points in the fourth quarter to beat the Tulare Mustangs 61-50 at the
Polly Wilhelmsen Tournament. The Pirates entered the final
quarter trailing the Mustangs 37-36, but the Reedley squad increased
their defensive pressure and finally got their offense untracked.
Jon Wallen sparked the
rally by drilling a three pointer to open the final stanza, giving the
Pirates a lead they never relinquished. Tulare Western was still
within three at 50-47 with under three minutes to play when Colin
Hofer scored on a fine pass from Pepijn Dekker. Jon Lepp
followed with a steal and bucket off of the Pirates' press, and Hofer
immediately arched a three pointer through the net to push the
advantage to 57-47 with 2:24 left in the contest.
Darren Minami's squad
had difficulty getting untracked against the stubborn Mustangs.
Reedley had numerous opportunities to score from near the basket but
could not get the ball to drop. The Pirates missed the presence
of Hofer during most of the first half. The junior took a blow
to the nose early in the game, suffered a bloody nose, and was
unavailable until the closing seconds of the half.
Wallen led the Pirates
with 21 points. Abel Lucca scored 14, Hofer 10 and Dekker 10.
With the victory the Pirates' record now stands at 9-1. The
Pirates play Tulare Union on Tuesday at 2:30 pm in their final game of
the tournament and of the year.
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